Motel worker robbery suspects snared

DEL MAR  An employee at a Del Mar hotel was robbed late Thursday and a colleague got the getaway car’s license number that helped in an arrest.

San Diego police stopped a red Ford Mustang on Interstate 805 in National City and arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of robbery.

The holdup took place in the parking lot of Hotel Indigo on Camino del Mar about 11 p.m., sheriff’s Lt. Dave Schaller said.

A 25-year-old employee told deputies that a woman asked to use his cellphone, and when he handed it to her, a man walked up behind him, stuck a possible gun into his back and demanded his money. The employee handed over some cash and the pair got into a Mustang - after the woman returned his phone, Schaller said.

Another employee saw them leave and gave deputies the license plate number. Schaller said the registered owner lives in Chula Vista, so police were on the lookout at the south end of the county.

Jeffrey Shearer, 48, a parolee, was arrested with Ashley Ochoa, 23, who also was booked on drug possession charges.